Vending machine discharge means



y 1967 w. c. OVSIENKO 3,319,822

VENDING MACHINE DISCHARGE MEANS Filed March 10, 196

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTO 2.. Wncre'e C. Ovszev/xo ATTORN Y May 16, 1967w. c. OVSIENKO VENDING MACHINE DISCHARGE MEANS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledMarch 10, 1965 INVENTOIZ WnLv'E/e C. OVS/ENKU .in its location.

United States Patent i 3,319,822 VENDING MACHINE DISCHARGE MEANS WalterC. Ovsienko, 1530 N. Humboldt, Milwaukee, Wis. 53202 Filed Mar. 10,1965, Ser. No. 438,623 Claims. (Cl. 221-129) This invention relates toimprovements in means for ejecting a selected package of cigarettes froma coincontrolled machine for vending the cigarettes from stacks thereofin the machine.

The well-known electrically operated vending machine for packages ofcigarettes and the like, provides a number of magazines each having anumber of compartments for superposed stacks of cigarette packages whichare to be dispensed as selected by a purchaser. The lowermost pack froma stack selected by the purchaser, is pushed out of the stack byelectrically operated means as one step of a sequence of machinemovements and falls onto a chute for delivery by gravity. The ejector orpusher means in common use involves a frame oscillated beneath themagazine by means of an electric motor and the frame has pivoted thereona finger unit for each compartment, the fingers each having a bar topress against the rearward end of the lowermost package of a stack asthe ejector bar slides over the bottom of the magazine'compartment. Eachfinger unit includes a solenoid with a plunger for lifting the finger,the plunger returning to the initial position where the solenoid isdeenergized. The solenoid is mounted on the frame and is a part of thecircuits energized sequentially by the purchasers closure of a switchdependent on his selection.

However, only alternating electric current is usually available for theoperation of vending machines and the solenoids used in cigarettevending machines, are designed for only momentary energization and giveonly a relatively short impulse to the plunger of the solenoid so thatmeans must be provided to catch the ejector finger in its raisedposition and latch it in raised position until the bar of the finger isdrawn onto the bottom of the magazine compartment behind a package ofcigarettes. Then the latch must release the ejector finger as powermeans are then operated to draw the pressure bar of the ejector fingerforward over the bottom of the compartment to push the package into adelivery chute. Heretofore, the latch was a spring pressed back by theejector bar as it was lifted by the solenoid and the spring returnedunder the ejector bar to support the bar in raised position. Theclearances involved and the relative positions of such spring and of theejector finger are such that the latch fails to operate if the vendingmachine cabinet does not stand level in bothsidewise and crosswisedirection, if the cabinet as. a whole is subjected to mishandling oriseven moved from one position .to another In fact, the spring latchmechanism is so sensitive as to be the major source of service calls tokeep the machine in proper vending operation.

To secure unfailing operation of such latch, it is necessarythat thesolenoid lift the ejector finger above the end of the spring and thatthe spring be pressed aside by the lifting of the finger and then returnto a position where it will catch and hold the pressure bar of thefinger upon termination of the solenoid impulse. Such construction doesnot compensate for any deficiencies in solenoid or spring action. Thespring latch has been in use from at least the end of 1950, on all ofthe three major makes of cigarette vending machines, in spite of thedifiiculties of adjusting such latch and the ejector finger.

However, the present invention places a magnet in a position where itcan attract and hold the ejector bar over the compartment bottom untilsuch time as the ejec- 3,3l9,822 Patented May 16, 1967 tor bar is to bepressed against a package of cigarettes. The field of the magnet needonly be sufiicient so that the solenoid will always lift the ejector barinto the magnetic'field even though the solenoid impulse would not besufiicient for use with a spring latch. Even though the ejector may notbe swinging freely about its pivot, or the ejector bar may not bealigned with a pole of the mag net, an adequate magnetic field willinvariably draw the eject-or bar to the magnet and hold it there. Thebar is slid off the magnet surface when the balance of the ejectingmechanism begins to draw the ejector finger against the package and theinitial magnetic field is again available for the next action.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one cigarette package magazine swungabout a pivot at one vertical edge to expose the package ejectingassembly, with a portion broken away to show an ejection unit.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation of a portion of the magizine and theframe bearing the package ejection units.

FIG. 3 is a perspective of the finger of an ejection unit beig held by amagnet.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of portion of an ejector unit finger madeof non-magnetic metal and provided with a magnetic metal shoe forattraction by a magnet.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of a bar magnet which may be appliedto a magazine in lieu of the individual magnets shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation of a filled magazine with an ejection unit ona frame oscillated by an electric motor, and in the position assumedbefore the ejection finger is lifted.

FIG. 7 is a view somewhat similar to that of FIG. 6 but showing theejection finger lifted and drawn to the magnet and in position to bebrought against the lowermost cigarette package in a magazinecompartment, and

FIG. 8 is a view somewhat similar to FIG. 6 but showing in full line,the ejector finger pushing a cigarette package toward a delivery chute,and in dotted line, showing the cigarette package about to fall awayfrom the ejector finger in its extreme forward position.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates amagazine for a cigarette vending machine, which has plural compartments11 of a size to receive a stack of superposed packages 12 of cigarettes,the cigarette packages being stacked from the upper end and thecompartment having two sides open respectively toward the front and therear of the machine, at the lower end, as shown at 13 in FIG. 6, fordispensing the lowermost package of cigarettes selected by a purchaser,as is usual. Each of the compartments has a bottom extending beyond theback and the front sides of the magazines and has a slot 14 therein, formovement therethrough of means for pressing forward a package of thecigarettes. The magazine is pivoted along one vertical edge for swingingaway from means 15 for ejecting a package of cigarettes from any one ofthe stacks. Each compartment 11 has mounted thereon a magnet 20extending across and downward over a portion of the opening 13 on theside of the compartment remote from the front of the machine. Themagnets are shown as being permanent magnets of the known cermet typebut the individual magnets per compartment may be replaced by a singlebar magnet 21 of the same material as is shown in FIG. 5. However, anykind of magnet will accomplish the desired result provided the field bythe magnet is strong enough to extend to the point to which the ejectingpusher is lifted.

The ejecting means comprises a frame 22 of channelshape with slots 23 inone side thereof and each slot 23 is substantially in alignment with oneof the slots 14 in the magazine compartment bottoms, the frame extendingthe full width of the mazagine. The frame 22 carries plural ejectionunits each including a solenoid 27 with a plunger 28 to lift a finger 29pivoted at 30 on the frame 22, the pivot ears of the finger beingindicated by the numeral 31. The cross section of portion 34 of thefinger is of a size to pass through the slots 14 in the bottom of thecompartments and the slots 23 in the frame 22, and is of a length suchthat swinging of the finger on its pivot moves a bar or head 35 which isat the free end of the finger and may be elongated at right angles tothe length of the finger, toward magnet 20 where it is attracted andheld above the bottom of the compartment. In structure shown in FIG. 3,the whole of the finger 29 is made of magnetic metal so that the bar 35serves in its entirety as an armature which will be attracted by themagnet 20 as it is lifted by the solenoid 27 and held in raised positionafter the solenoid is de-energized. In FIG. 4, the finger is assumed tobe a non-magnetic material (eg a white-metal die casting) with pins 36extendig from the bar ends so that a magnetic metal armature shoe 37 canbe attached for coaction with the magnet 20. Obviously a magnetic metalmay be inserted in the ejector bar 35 or otherwise attached by any wellknown means.

The frame 22 and the plurality of solenoid operated ejector fingerscarried thereby, are mounted on arms 41 pivoted at 42 to a crank plate43 formed with a slot 44 receiving a pin 45 on a disk 46 rotated by anelectric motor 47 mounted on the :base 48 of the vending machinecabinet, and forming power driven crank means. As the pin moves, thecrank plate is raised and lowered to rock the arms 41 on the pivot 42whereby the frame 22 swings from the position shown in FIG. 7 to thatshown in full line in FIG. 8 and to its final position shown in dottedline in FIG. 8. The means for swinging the ejector frame is now incommon use in cigarette vending machines and usually includes a numberof frames each associated with one of a number of magazines and theframes are so linked that they oscillate on an arc of large radius.

In use of the present construction, deposit of coins is required andthereafter the customer presses on the button of a switch associatedwith a stack containing the goods he desires, to energize the solenoid27 to draw up its plunger 28 and lift the ejector finger from theposition shown in FIG. 6 to a position at which the bar 35 can beattracted and held by the magnet as shown in FIG. 7. In the raisedposition, the bar 35 is above the magazine compartment bottom and dropsonto such bottom as the frame 29 is swung forward by the motor 47 topull the ejector bar 35 free from the magnet 20. As frame 22 continuesits swing to full extent of movement of the crank 43, 45, the ejectorbar 35 slides over the bottom of the compartment and pushes the lowestcigarette package forward until the package slides to a point forgravity delivery on the delivery chute 51 and the ejector finger dropsbelow the magazine floor for return of the entire ejector to its initialposition.

It will be seen from the above description that a relatively sensitivelatch has been eliminated and that holding of the ejector finger is nowperformed by a part which can compensate for deficiencies in the degreeof lifting of the end of the finger or resistance to such lifting. Assoon as the magnetic finger bar, or a magnetic shoe on a non-magneticbar, is raised into the effective field of the magnet there need be nofurther lifting of the finger by means other than the magnet. As thefield of the magnet is broad, it is virtually impossible for a finger tobe so affected by change in machine levels or the like as to fail to beheld until drawn off the magnet. In experimental use over a substantialtime, it has been impossible to cause malfunction of the ejection fingerunder any conditions encountered by applicant in his extended use ofcigarette vending machines.

I claim:

1. In a machine for delivering single articles from a stack for whichsaid machine provides a dispensing compartment having a slotted bottom,said machine further comprising an ejection arm pivoted below saidbottom and movable in an article ejecting direction from a normallyretracted position, and a finger pivoted to said arm and having anarticle ejecting head normally at a level below said bottom and gravitybiased toward said level and movable about the pivotal connection of thefinger with the arm toward a level above said bottom and in an upperposition in which it is in registry with the lowermost article of saidstack, the slot in the bottom being adapted to receive said finger formovement of said head as it impels said article from said stack, meansfor oscillating the arm, and means for momentarily pivoting said fingerupwardly with respect to said arm and toward said position;

the improvement which consists in a magnet mounted on said compartmentand for which said head provides an armature, the magnet being at alevel to attract said head toward said upper position of registry withthe article and to hold it in said position following the momentarypivoting of the finger toward said upper position, whereby to assist incompleting the pivoting of said finger toward said upper position, themovement of said arm in an article ejecting direction thereupon causingthe finger to move through the slot to engage and eject said articlefrom said stack and to pull the armature from said magnet.

2. The combination of claim 1 in which the said head comprises a T-barat the free end of said finger.

3. The combination of claim 1 in which said head is of magneticmaterial.

4. The combination of claim 1 in which said head is of non-magneticmaterial and has a magnetic keeper connected therewith to be attractedby said magnet.

.5. A machine according to claim 1 in further combination with likemachines in side by side relationship, a single magnet extendingcontinuously across a plurality of such machines and constituting foreach of said machines the magnet for which the several heads providearmatures.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,213,651 9/1940Hall 1949 2,442,174 5/1948 May 1949 2,581,502 1/1952 Wallin 194-102,585,718 2/1952 Adams et al l9410 2,800,212 7/1957 Nicolaus 194-93,000,539 9/1961 Danziger et al 221129 3,172,519 3/1965 Albright et al.221-270 X ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

KENNETH N. LEIMER, Examiner,

1. IN A MACHINE FOR DELIVERING SINGLE ARTICLES FROM A STACK FOR WHICHSAID MACHINE PROVIDES A DISPENSING COMPARTMENT HAVING A SLOTTED BOTTOM,SAID MACHINE FURTHER COMPRISING AN EJECTION ARM PIVOTED BELOW SAIDBOTTOM AND MOVABLE IN AN ARTICLE EJECTING DIRECTION FROM A NORMALLYRETRACTED POSITION, AND A FINGER PIVOTED TO SAID ARM AND HAVING ANARTICLE EJECTING HEAD NORMALLY AT A LEVEL BELOW SAID BOTTOM AND GRAVITYBIASED TOWARD SAID LEVEL AND MOVABLE ABOUT THE PIVOTAL CONNECTION OF THEFINGER WITH THE ARM TOWARD A LEVEL ABOVE SAID BOTTOM AND IN AN UPPERPOSITION IN WHICH IT IS IN REGISTRY WITH THE LOWERMOST ARTICLE OF SAIDSTACK, THE SLOT IN THE BOTTOM BEING ADAPTED TO RECEIVE SAID FINGER FORMOVEMENT OF SAID HEAD AS IT IMPELS SAID ARTICLE FROM SAID STACK, MEANSFOR OSCILLATING THE ARM, AND MEANS FOR MOMENTARILY PIVOTING SAID FINGERUPWARDLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID ARM AND TOWARD SAID POSITION;